Dozens of fans hospitalised after Avicii concert in Boston

More than 30 patients were taken to hospital with more treated for dehydration on-site

Scores of concertgoers, many under the age of 21, were hospitalised after an Avicii concert in Boston on Wednesday evening (June 25).

The concert took place at the city’s TD Garden, with 36 patients taken to nearby hospitals after suffering from dehydration. Michael Bosse, deputy superintendent for Boston Emergency Medical Services, said more than 50 people were treated or evaluated at the scene.

The Boston Globe reports that the situation was exacerbated by the hot and steamy environment at the concert, as well as drugs and alcohol. 19-year-old attendee Mike Santostefano told the Boston Globe he saw three young women being carried out on stretchers. “You couldn’t breathe if you were on the floor. It was the best and worst time ever,” adding a lot of people couldn’t handle themselves. “People who don’t do drugs come here and do drugs.”

Roisin Saratonion, 18, left the concert early and told local media: “It was just too crazy in there. You get really hot in there and you just pass out. You couldn’t breathe,” she said. “It was claustrophobic. People get dehydrated.”

It was the first night of the Swedish DJ’s tour of the eastern United States. It’s not the first time an Avicii concert has ended with hospitalisation. At a concert in Toronto earlier this year, 29 people were taken to hospital with various degrees of health problems. It is suspected MDMA use played a significant part in the health problems of those attendees. Bosse from the EMS said: “There may have been some illicit drug involved, but none have been identified,” but did add police are investigating and are speaking with officials at TD Garden.

Employees at the House of Blues in Boston were called to explain three drug overdoses that occurred on August 27 last year, the opening tour night of another EDM DJ, Zedd. A 19-year-old woman died at that concert of a suspected overdose of MDMA.